Following Three Years of Development and $1 billion in
Spending,
Walt Disney Co. Reveals NextGen Details with MyMagic+

An
Immersive, More Seamless and More Personal Experience for Each Guest

By Jason Garcia, Orlando
SentinelMcClatchy-Tribune Regional News

Jan. 07, 2013--After more than three years in development and
$1 billion in spending, the Walt Disney Co. on Monday unveiled the
central elements of "Next Generation Experience," the sweeping,
vacation-planning project aimed at getting travelers to spend more time
and money at Walt Disney World.

Packaged under the name "MyMagic+," the project includes a new
website and mobile-phone app, a revamped ride reservation system and
wristbands that will serve as all-in-one theme-park tickets, hotel-room
keys and credit cards.

The goal is to make the increasingly congested Disney World,
whose four theme parks drew more than 47 million visitors last year,
less stressful to navigate for travelers. But it is also designed to
allow Disney to cull vast amounts of new information from guests in
hopes of better tailoring everything from sales pitches to operating
hours.

"Over the past few years, we've devoted considerable time and
resources to create a more immersive, more seamless and more personal
experience for each and every guest who spends time with us," Tom
Staggs, the chairman of Disney's global theme-park division, said in a
prepared statement. "This collection of tools is another step forward
in the ongoing evolution of our guest experience, giving us even more
ways to help friends and family create the unforgettable Disney
memories that they want most."

Disney said MyMagic+ will include three central elements:

-- A new website and mobile app dubbed "My Disney Experience,"
which Disney said will be a "one-stop shop" for planning a Disney
vacation. In addition to details such as hotel-room availability,
travelers will be encouraged to provide personal details ranging from
their favorite characters to celebrations such as birthdays.

-- An revamped version of its existing FastPass system dubbed
"FastPass+," in which travelers will be permitted to reserve a limited
number of attraction times from home. In addition to rides, options
will include reserved seating for nightly fireworks display or other
shows or specific character-greeting times. For travelers uncertain
about how to plan, Disney said it will recommended a prepackaged set of
three FastPass+ reservations to "serve as a starting point."

-- Radio frequency identification-equipped wrist bands that
will be known as "MagicBands" that will replace paper tickets and can
be used to enter parks and hotel rooms and to buy food and souvenirs
around the resort. The wristbands, which will be sold in a variety of
colors, will also interact with other sensors around Disney's parks,
allowing characters to greet guests by name and to verify "FastPass+"
return times.

Disney said MagicBands will initially only be offered to
certain guests staying in its roughly two dozen on-property hotels, a
move the company hopes will help rebuild occupancy that dipped to 78
percent during Disney's fiscal fourth quarter.

A spokeswoman said the company will begin roll out the various
elements over "the next few months." Not every aspect will be
introduced at once. Disney said it will expects to adjust the systems
as more travelers use them and to add more features over time.

Other components of NextGen have already appeared in various
corners of Disney World, from keyless hotel-room doors to interactive
ride queues.